Interviews
This section should probably just be called ‘name-dropping’. I wrote film and music reviews for my university paper, and I’d also done some amateur work for a friend’s blog. That led to a stint moonlighting as a freelance reporter for the New York Daily News. I helped cover entertainment for a columnist who was stretched too thin. That meant going out to film premieres and parties in the evening, then filing my background coverage and interviews by the next morning. She’d take my reporting and write up some of the items you see below. It was a pretty wild experience. To this day, I still have some fond memories — like getting shouted at by Susan Sarandon. Or my failed interview with Woody Harrelson, who appeared to be paralytically stoned.
John Cleese
The Pythons were always big heroes of mine. John Cleese may have felt guilty that I was hovering around the red carpet on a cold, rainy November night, because he was surprisingly open about his divorce. After talking about his money problems, Cleese landed a couple of ad campaigns. I’m glad I could play a small part in keeping the comedy legend out of squalor.
Marcia Gay Harden
I was a little nervous waiting to interview Clint Eastwood at his Museum of the Moving Image tribute. Then Marcia Gay Harden explained what happened the first time she met the film icon, and I felt a lot better.
Kevin Spacey
My interview with Kevin Spacey was notable for a few reasons. One being that he clearly knew how to give a great quote. Another was the disturbing allegations that came to light around a decade later. And finally, how I saw him at a restaurant just a couple of months after I interview him back in 2009, and was convinced he’d be offended if I didn’t go over and say hello. Ah, the delusional confidence of a 25-year-old.
Mad Men
Being a copywriter, my first assignment was covering a party with the cast of Mad Men to celebrate the release of a Brooks Brothers Mad Men Edition suit. (Go ahead and roll your eyes.) I was very much learning on the job, awkwardly mingling with the cast. Scotch seemed like an appropriate form of liquid courage to calm my nerves at the time. Transcribing my interviews the next morning, less so.
